Sony’s new PlayStation 5 console went on sale in select countries in the middle of this month with a new CFI-1202 model that delivers lower operating temperatures and more powerful performance output. Thanks to the AMD Obreon Plus SoC based on TSMC’s 6nm process, the new PS5 is lighter, better cooled and consumes less power.
According to the latest disassembly video shared by foreign oil tube channel Austin Evans (Austion Evan), the veteran techie noticed that the new PS5 is lighter in weight, better heat dissipation and lower power consumption. The new PS5 model is marked as “CFI-1202”, which is better than Sony’s initial PS5 model (CFI-1000/CFI-1001).
Technology media Angstronmics has confirmed that the new Sony PS5 (CFI-1202) is equipped with AMD Oberon Plus processors using TSMC’s 6nm production process. TSMC has made the design rules for its 7nm (N7) process node compatible with the 6nm EUV (N6) node. This allows TSMC partners to easily port existing 7nm chips to the 6nm node without encountering significant complexity. The N6 process node offers an 18.8% increase in transistor density, lower power consumption and thus lower temperature.
That’s why the new Sony PS5 console is lighter and has a smaller heatsink compared to the launch version. But that’s not all, we can also see photos of the new AMD Oberon Plus SOC chip, which sits next to the 7nm Oberon SOC. The new chip measures about 260mm2, which is a 15% reduction in chip size compared to the 7nm Oberon SOC (~300mm2). Another advantage of moving to 6nm is the number of chips that can be produced on a single wafer. The report says that each Oberon Plus SOC wafer can produce about 20% more chips at the same cost.
This means that Sony can offer more Oberon Plus chips for PS5 without compromising on cost, which could further reduce the market shortage that the current console has faced since its launch. TSMC is also reported to be phasing out its 7nm Oberon SOCs in the future and moving completely to 6nm Oberon Plus SOCs, which would increase chip yield per wafer by 50 percent. Microsoft is also expected to use the 6nm process node for its updated Arden SOC for its Xbox Series X gaming console in the future.
